Social History Archive
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Roman Perceptions of Blacks
Posted on February 19, 2012 | No CommentsIn Roman perceptions categories like black African, white, 'paleface' and swarthy were neither communities nor socially defined 'races' with ascribed group-statuses. Categorisation was determined by the physical appearance of the individual person, not by parentage or 'blood'. -
The Origin and Failure of Roman Sumptuary Laws
Posted on February 18, 2012 | No CommentsThe Romans were not the first civilization to enact sumptuary laws; like much of their culture, they observed this first in Greek society. -
Ancient Greek Yarn-Making
Posted on February 13, 2012 | No CommentsFrom these artist-potters come the Museum ceramics on whose decoration we can trace all the processes of yarn-making. The group includes a charming pyxis, or toilet box, of the fifth century, and two rare onoi, or rove-making implements, of the previous century. -
SPECIALIZATION – THE HIDDEN FEATURE OF THE ROMAN PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Posted on February 12, 2012 | No CommentsThe interest of historians for the Roman civil service began in the late 19th century with the so- called prosopographical works. Initially, they presented only chronological lists of the provincial governors (legati Augusti pro praetore provinciae) or lists of the army commanders (legati legionis). -
Astronomy and ancient Greek cult : an application of archaeoastronomy to Greek religious architecture, cosmologies and landscapes
Posted on February 12, 2012 | No CommentsThis study advances understanding of the role of landscapes in Greek religious practice, establishes the importance of astronomy and cosmology in ancient Greek religion, and demonstrates how this religious system was expressed at the local level in myths and the performance of cult rites. -
Rites of Passage and their Role in the Socialization of the Spartan Youth
Posted on February 12, 2012 | No CommentsEducation was obligatory and uniform for all Spartans, a uniformity that enforced an important institutional restriction on the display of wealth, in contrast to other Greek city-states, in particular Athens. -
Did Ancient Romans Love Their Children? Infanticide in Ancient Rome
Posted on February 12, 2012 | No CommentsThis paper will focus on infants that were abandoned in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. in ancient Rome with a practice known as infanticide, also called exposure. It occurred often in the ancient world and there were many reasons why it happened. Parents endangered their children in this way because they loved their children, the ones they raised as well as the ones they exposed. -
Deconstructing the Discourses of Roman Imperialism
Posted on February 11, 2012 | No CommentsWhy does classical studies persistently emphasize the benefits and cultural achievements of Roman civilization and ignore the negative aspects of colonialism in antiquity? Why dowe persist with an analytical framework based on outmoded attitudes about empire? -
Observation and Prediction in Ancient Astrology
Posted on January 26, 2012 | No CommentsIn the absence of a solar calendar, such observations of the annual risings and settings of the fixed stars allowed the ancient farmer or sailor to situate the current day in the context of the solar year and its seasons. -
On the Egyptian origin of the domestic cat
Posted on January 26, 2012 | No CommentsThe traditional opinion is that the cat was domesticated in place in Egypt from wild local stock. SCHAUENBERG (1972) contradicted this hypothesis by showing that the cranial index (ic = cranium length/volume of encephalic cavity) of the modern domestic cat was closer to that of the steppe cat (Felis ornata) of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan than that of the wild Libyan desert cat (Felis libyca).